Highway 52/63 Project Nearing Halfway Mark

Work on the southbound Highway 52 bridge over Highway 63 in Rochester is still projected for completion on time.

Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Dougherty says it is anticipated that traffic will be switched over to the rebuilt bridge around the middle of this month to allow crews began work on replacing the bridge deck on the northbound Highway 52 bridge at the same interchange.

He says, besides moving both lanes of traffic over to the southbound lanes, motorists seeking to exit northbound Highway 63 to northbound Highway 52 will need to take the southbound 52 exit and continue traveling east to the County Road 1 interchange and then head back north on Highway 52 in order to exit onto northbound Highway 63. Dougherty says there will also be more significant disruptions during an upcoming weekend as crews dismantle the existing northbound span on Highway 52. It's not yet known when that will occur.

The work on the northbound bridge will also include the creation of a third lane for traffic exiting northbound Highway 63 onto northbound Highway 52, eliminating a long-standing source of congestion and traffic accidents. The entire $5 million project is scheduled to be completed this fall.

MNDOT spokesman Mike Dougherty, also known as MNDOT Mike, is a regular guest on Rochester Today with Tracy McCray and Andy Brownell on KROC-AM.